Crate Training a Puppy at Night

okay, thanks

my bullie wakes up every 3 hours at night do i have to bring him outside to potty?

Good question, bullieowner... I ask the same! We got a puppy last week (8 weeks old, now 9). We are crate training him, but at night, we have been leaving the crate open since he can't hold it in all night and he goes to the bathroom in the kitchen, so while we can sleep 7-8 hours, we wake up to kitchen poops and pittles. The only thing I can think of is to sleep in the next room to him, crate him at night, and let him out when he cries to go the potty. This is brutal for late-sleepers like me, but I can't think of a better way to crate train properly at night and thus get him to potty-train as quickly as possible.

Bullieowner, if you puppy crys every 3 hours yes eventually you'll get more sleep but for first few weeks its going to be restless. By taking him out will train him to potty outside. Make sure to feed him 4 hours before bedtime let puppy drink 2 hours before bedtime and when its bedtime take pup out make sure to business will help out on the 3 hour cries. Loamguy, if you are trying to crate train leaving door open not help one crate training is to teach your pup to hold it. And if he goes potty in house your are just say yeah its okay potty everywhere in long run wouldnt be good so need to train him to potty outside not in!! Days you are home you can teach him to take naps in crate which help train him to learn that it is thier bed !!

Its WELL worth the lost sleep training this way. Yes the pups are gonna cry and have fits at first when put in the crate, but they WILL get used to it. I have been crate training and sleeping when she does, and just about fully potty trained and crate trained as well. Have had my Paisia for almost 4 weeks and she is 12 weeks. When puppy wakes in middle of night to potty, dont let her/him stay up and play. Back to crate to sleep, it has worked for me :)

Hi, yes it is WELL worth sleep loss. I am also crate training and it's going nicely with my 14 week old shih-tzu Bubbles. I was wondering tho, at what age (usually) would her bladder be strong enough to go for a 6 hour stretch at nighttime? Currently I take her for a business trip 4 to 4.5 hours after bedtime ~ thanks in advance--just wondering when to start stretching her a bit! :)

could anyone give me any help,....iv got 2x8wk old staffi, so far pritty good, i just have a issue that wen i put them to bed in there crate they wer ok for a good week but now the male has started whining and yapping, there are in a crate each next to each other and covered over so its den like,any other time they go in i.e wen i hoover or if house is full etc, they are fine its just wen i go to bed, most nights they wake me at least2 time, and then there up from 6am every day witch i dont mind if they have had a gud night but after some time you start to think what ur doing wrong, so any advise would be great thanks.....amanda

how long do they usually cry when they are in their crate because my pup cried for over two hours tonight and wont sleep unless he is by my sided

I have a brand new puppy that we rescued. She is the spitting image of the first puppy featured in this article. Facial markings and all. Does anyone know what breed mix they might be. I open this article and thought I was staring at my own dog!!

I had the same problem for first 8 weeks. The above tips for training seem perfect. It worked the same way for me. When the pup wants to play with you at middle of the night, jus ignore him. Might sound cruel deed but helps a lot. Your pup will learn within a week time that night time is NOT for playing.

Can 2 puppies share a crate for training?

I live alone and I work nights. I would love to crate train my puppy but wouldn't be able to let him out at night. What should I do?

is it ok for a puppy (6weeks)to sleep outside

my staffy was introduced to her crate after day 1 and after 3 sleepless nights she settled in to her new home now she sleeps in the crate even during the day, its somewhere she feels safe i guess only problem is that she doesnt cry to do her buisness she does it and goes back to sleep so i wake to a soiled cage and a soiled dog!! HELP!!

My new shih tzu is not a happy camper in his crate at night. He is 9 weeks old and immediately cries wen placed int he crate at bedtime. He has been fine for the short periods during the day, but night is brutal. Because he is so young I do bring him out to try to eliminate every 2 hours. However, even with doing this he has pooped in his crate for two nights in a row. How do I know that his crying is to be let out to eliminate versus "I want out of here and to be with you?" Help!

My 5 month old GoldenDoodle is pooping in his crate at night at least 3 times a week. I have given him a little less food at dinnertime, feed him 4 hours prior to going to bed, and make sure that he poops before bed. He is usually in his crate about 8 hours at night. Is that too long for him to hold it? I have no problem with pee - just poop! How can I get this to stop? Do I need to set an alarm to wake me up so that I can let him out? or should I move him to a hallway where I can gate off and if he soils, I can easily clean up without having to give him a bath each morning?

We have a 6 month old havanese who has been crate trained since the first week we got her. She has always been good about getting into her crate, even on her own at night to sleep. But starting 4 nights ago...we have to put her in there and then she begins to scream,howl and fuss. We ignore her as we did before, but she is just continuing to do it every night...all night! What is the problem? Why is she not likeing her crate when she used love it? It's always been her "haven".The only thing we can think has given her this new "attitude" is we have allowed her to come into "new" parts of the house on occasion...to start introducing her to more of the house, as Cesar has recommended. We gave her another "inch"...and now she wants a "mile"? help.

can anyone help me ? i have a 4 month old puppy and am trying to crate train. he had a big crate but kept going to toilet in it so my friend said to get a smeller one which he could stand up and true aroung in so i did. the first nite i left him for 7 hours in it and when i went downstairs he had waiting. the nexted nite i left him 8 hours and he had gone a toilet in it is that my fault for leaving him to long? how long should he wait?

To kane&mark 4 month old puppies can stay in a cage 4 hours or more. But leaving a puppy in a crate too long ends up the puppy only being able to eliminate in the crate. The best thing to do is if you are ever leaving your puppy alone for long periods is always put the crate in an area that can be gated off with a baby gate or something similiar. NEVER lock the puppy in the crate, ALWAYS keep the door open on the crate. If the puppy is locked in the crate it can only soil the crate. If you get the crate and a gated off area, keep the door open, put down some papers to make clean up easy, but never reward or praise a dog if they do soil on the papers otherwise they feel that's where they need to use the bathroom at. A crate is like a den or a puppy/dogs own security blanket. If done with patience and time a puppy/dog will always think of a den as it's own resting place and never soil in it. Puppies who repeatably soil in their crate will eventually not be able to be crated at all because it thinks the crate is where it needs to go to the bathroom at. It could become so confused that it will deliberately go into the crate to urinate or defecate. This is considered a reverse housebreaking where it thinks the crate is where it needs to go to the bathroom or even inside the house. If it continues like this the best way to do it if you are home watch your puppy very closely once you see it squat make a loud noice like stamp your foot or make excited vocal sounds. That will stop the puppy long enough for you to scoop it up and take it outside to do it's business. Right when he gets his business done make a big deal about it...praise him, pet him, or give him treats. Soon he will start understanding that he must go outside. But like I said ALWAYS keep the crate door open and the crate and puppy in a secure, enclosed room before leaving for extended periods.

I need help! I have had a shichon puppy for 2 weeks and she is 10 weeks old. She is a great dog during the day, but cannot take anything related to the crate. She barks and cries all night! She also has accidents even though we pick up her food 4 hours before bedtime, pick up her water 2 hours before bedtime, take her out almost evry hour before bedtime, and we are taking her out sometimes 2 times at night. We are seriously sleep deprived. I don't mind getting up with her, but it is the barking and crying that is preventing us from sleeping. Why is this still happening after two weeks??

HELP! I have a 4 month old shepherd/lab mix we rescued from a shelter. He was perfect in his crate in kitchen for the first 6 nights. On the 7th mu hubby sort of broke the routine and had him on the couch - put him in his crate late but then let him out at 5am to potty and allowed him to stay out. The next night - horrible - wanted nothing to do with crate. He barked, cried and whined for an hour - took him out to potty (he did) and then put him back in. He cried for hours and I finally had to take him out as he was waking all the children. Any advice? Would moving the crate or adding one in ouur bedroom help?

Ok this is night number 1 with our 7 week old German Shepherd and I have no idea what to do. He will absolutely not stay in his crate. I've been reading that you're not suppose to crate a puppy until they are around 4 months but I don't understand what you're suppose to do when they are this young. Thanks.

Hi, I have a 6 week old daushand mix. She is very well potty trained, and getting used to the crate slowly. The only issue i'm facing with her is that she whines and cries all night long, leaving only about a 20 minute window for me to sleep before she begins to cry again. I'm wondering is this could be due to that because she is so young, she sleeps continuously in vaious places besides her crate thoughout the day. I am thinking that her crying is simply due to the fact that she would rather sleep elsewhere because she sleeps soundly in her bed. I have done as this suggests, by rewarding and making it a comfortable place for her, and taking her out to relieve herself regularly. I am simply at a loss for what is making her so upset. I will also tell you that this has only been her 2nd night with us so far, so that could also be why she is whining so much. Thank you very much.